We are seeing the struggle to break free from authoritarian regimes among our fellow men and women in Libya, Egypt, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Few people, I dare say, would prefer a man-made power structure which seeks to collect all authority and power in the hands of one or a few leaders. Institutions structured in this way often slip into abuse and misuse of power. Some critics of Christianity argue that modern churches have become such institutions.
Unfortunately, there are undoubtedly plenty of such examples of these within the religious world and within the framework of "Christendom" as some would call it. However, when one examines the New Testament, this clearly is not the model which is presented. It also does not fit the parameters of Jesus' own teaching. What would a church organization look like if it followed the New Testament pattern; would it work?
Let me begin by defining the leadership we have in mind. On the one hand there is the ultimate leadership of the church: God and Christ. This is clearly a hierarchy centered beneath an all knowing, all powerful, and all loving God (see 1 Corinthians 11:3 and Ephesians 1:22). Christians submit to Christ's will as found in scripture. But on the other hand there is an organizational structure for the church today with human leaders who shepherd and guide the church. In the New Testament, this is limited to individual congregations without power structures above them. As we consider church structure and leadership, it is this local, congregational, organization which I have in mind.
The first thing we ought to notice is how Jesus says leadership ought to be exercised by His disciples. In Matthew 20:25-28 Jesus states: "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (NIV - eemphasis mine). Jesus plainly reveals He does not desire His disciples to be "bosses" or authoritarians in their leadership. Rather they need to approach their work as "servants".
Peter reiterates this principles in his address to church Elders in 1 Peter 5:2-4. "Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers — not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock" (NIV - emphasis mine). In other words, Elders are to shepherd and oversee the work of the church, but to do so as examples not as "bosses" who seek to bully, control, and abuse the church. In fact the concept of shepherding conjures the notion of gently leading through vision and guidance.
A person becomes one of a plurality of Elders by being chosen by those whom he will co-lead. In Acts 6 we have the only clear example of how a group of congregational leaders was selected in the New Testament (other than Jesus selecting His 12 disciples). In this case they were men who would serve food to widows (deacons as indicated by the verb "to wait tables, serve"). But notice instead of Jesus' Apostles selecting these men, they asked the church to "choose" seven men. They offered a criteria which the men had to meet. But the congregation chose only 7 men among the more than 5,000 members of that congregation.
Later in the book of Acts Paul and Barnabas, while doing mission work, "appointed Elders" in every church. This general statement would seem to imply they set these men in place. The context is a brief snap shot rather than a discussion of the process they used. The verb used and translated "appointed" had come to have that simple meaning. But it was a word which originally referred to the Athenian assembly voting by the raising of hands (Colin Brown, Dictionary of New Testament Theology. 1:478).
If Luke in writing Acts were looking backward at the original use of this verb to pull out the "voting by raising of hands" one would wonder if the voting was done only by Paul and Barnabas. The image would inherently have Paul and Barnabas raising their hands to vote amongst themselves. This seems a silly notion compared to merely discussing who they thought ought to be Elders. But more sensible is the notion they appointed Elders in the sense the congregation selected leaders according to the pattern of a few chapters earlier and set them into place in much the same way as the Apostles set the Deacons in place in Acts 6:6. In fact, in both places prayer was involved. What is intriguing is that Luke chooses to use a verb that reflected back to the idea of selecting by a vote.
In other words, as we think of churches selecting leaders, the New Testament pattern has the members of the church choosing leaders from among themselves. It is not a "top-down" hierarchy, but rather it is a loving leadership from within. Elders are seen in the New Testament as caring shepherds who lead by example and seek to help members be equipped and ready to help one another grow (Ephesians 4:11-16). Their motivation is the spiritual growth and well-being of every member of the church. Rather than forcing someone into something they seek to teach and guide a person into a closer relationship with God.
Those who see Christianity as a controlling institution that seeks to abuse members as a method of self-perpetuating authority have not been shown the loving model of the New Testament. Members act out of love and concern for one another. The leadership should not be a bullying, self-creating, board. Rather it should be a leadership motivated out of love for one another, because we are among each other.
I know that congregational leadership is just one facet of the perception some have of Christianity as a controlling institution. But it is one segment some point to as an example. Fortunately, those abusive models are not the same as the one found in scripture. Christianity works when Shepherds lead from love and by example.
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